^TagDystopian

Big brother is watching you. Digital spy concept. Based on Generative AI

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post

Author
William A. Dembski
Date
April 8, 2024

Categorized
Ethics

Tagged
1984, Computers, Dystopian, George Orwell, lies, objective truth, Wokeness}

Orwell’s Cold Dystopia is Closer Than We Think

_{When we speak lies as truth, tyrants come marching in} _{William A. Dembski

April 8, 2024

23

Ethics}

The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. [Winston’s] heart sank as he thought of the enormous power arrayed against him… And yet he was in the right! They were wrong and he was right. The obvious, the silly, and the true had got to be defended. Truisms are true, hold on to that! The solid world exists, its laws do not change. Stones are hard, water is wet, objects unsupported fall towards the earth’s center. With the feeling that he was setting forth an important axiom, he wrote: Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. GEORGE ORWELL, 1984 Read More ›

lost time memory, retro clock time at 7 o'clock with fade dissolve missing life history concept.

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post

Author
Wesley J. Smith
Date
March 19, 2024

Categorized
Media

Tagged
alzheimers, Assisted Suicide, Death, Dystopian, Mainstream Media, politico, Wesley J. Smith}

Mainstream Publication Endorses Suicide

_{The Politico story violates media guidelines and does a profound disservice to our society.} _{Wesley J. Smith

March 19, 2024

6

Media}

Such reporting tells people with dementia that their lives are not worth living. This is very wrong. Politico’s editors should be ashamed. Read More ›

Spooky silhouettes of aliens and bright light in background. 3D rendered illustration.

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
January 27, 2024

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
aliens, Arts and Culture, Dystopian, Gary Varner, Movies, ripley, Science fiction, tv}

Alien Resurrection, Part 2: Trying to Recover After a Retcon

_{The writers of the show never seemed to agree on how smart these aliens really are.} _{Gary Varner

January 27, 2024

8

Arts & Culture}

A problem for the franchise as a whole is that there’s been no consistent measurement for these creatures’ intelligence. Read More ›

Black labyrinth background with dof focus

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
August 19, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Arts and Culture, bad writing, character development, Dolore, Dystopian, Gary Varner, Man in Black, Mazes, Robots, Western, Westworld}

Westworld Episode 10 Review (Part One)

_{The maze isn't the only thing that's hard to navigate in this episode.} _{Gary Varner

August 19, 2023

8

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

I’ll start out with the most irrelevant plot first because almost no screen time is devoted to it, and it amounts to nothing in the end anyway. Hale successfully convinces the Board to fire Ford, not that he really cares. But Hale has been convinced this entire time that Ford is going to delete the park’s data out of spite. So, after Theresa is killed, she enlists Sizemore, a jaded writer who works for the park, to smuggle the data out through one of the decommissioned robots. This plan doesn’t work; however, because all the robots wake up by the end of the episode, and the data is lost in the vengeful horde. So, it’s a plot point that goes Read More ›

The Flow of Time: A Close-Up Portrait of an Incomplete Humanoid Android Covered in White Porcelain Skin, Blue Eyes, and Glowing Internal Parts.

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
August 12, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
AI, Dystopian, Gary Varner, HBO, Max, Movies and TV, Robots, Sci Fi, Science fiction, Westworld}

Westworld Episode 9 Review

_{Bernard learns the truth} _{Gary Varner

August 12, 2023

6

Arts & Culture}

Episode nine is fast paced, but if you’re paying attention, the grand twist is obvious, and I found it a little irritating. In the next review, we’ll discuss the conclusion of Westworld. Read More ›

Cyber security, AI Mind, Network Management, Modern Data Center, Cloud Networking, AI Generated Art

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post

Author
News
Date
August 8, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
Alarmism, Artificial Intelligence, Consciousness, Dystopian, Robert J. Marks, Science fiction, Tech alarmist, The Atlantic, Yuval Noah Harari}

Evaluating Yuval Harari’s Dystopian Views on AI

_{Does AI spell the doom of democracy?} _{News

August 8, 2023

1

Artificial Intelligence}

Will infotech and biotech erode human agency, subvert human desires, and render free-market economics obsolete? At first glance, there looks to be a wide gap between the future of AI and the destruction of democracy. Some futurists claim to have jumped that chasm. In a cheery little column published by The Atlantic, Yuval Noah Harari posits AI will ultimately destroy democracy and favor Digital Dictatorships. He notes that liberal democracies have been anomalies and that history tends to favor authoritarian governance. What is his argument and does it hold water? We’ve been sharing a number of lectures from past COSM conferences and other videos. This video is just one of many you can find at the Bradley Center’s YouTube page. There Read More ›

Builders in work clothes install new roofing tools, roofing tools, electric drill and use them on new wooden roofs with metal sheets

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post

Author
News
Date
June 22, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
AI, Artificial Intelligence, Consciousness, Discovery Institute, Dystopian, George Gilder, Jay Richards, Machines, Robert J. Marks, Science fiction}

The One Thing Only Humans Can Do

_{What makes human beings unique? Will artificial intelligence take over our jobs?} _{News

June 22, 2023

1

Artificial Intelligence}

What makes human beings unique? Will artificial intelligence take over our jobs? The Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence, which publishes Mind Matters, was launched largely to respond to questions like these. In a panel discussion at the Dallas launch of the Bradley Center, Baylor Professor of Computer Engineering Robert J. Marks offered some thoughts on the evening’s topic, “Will ‘Smart’ Machines Take Over Our Jobs?” This is a great video to watch if you’re new to Mind Matters or are interested in learning more about the unique perspective of the Bradley Center. Marks doesn’t offer doomsday approximations of the future of AI, but neither does he disregard the challenges it poses. According to him, though, there’s one Read More ›

Forest in fog with mist. Fairy spooky looking woods in a misty day. Cold foggy morning in horror forest with trees

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post

Author
Peter Biles
Date
June 17, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Transhumanism

Tagged
AI, C.S. Lewis, ChatGPT, Creativity, Dystopian, internet, J.R.R. Tolkien, mind matters, Oxford, Paul Kingsnorth, Science fiction, Technology, That Hideous Strength}

That Hideous Strength, A.K.A. Transhumanism

_{C.S. Lewis's classic science fiction tale is about the temptation to reject being human} _{Peter Biles

June 17, 2023

7

Arts & Culture, Transhumanism}

C.S. Lewis’s 1946 science fiction novel That Hideous Strength is almost eighty years old now. Written during the throes of World War II, the novel is the culmination of Lewis’s cosmic trilogy, preluded by Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra. There are hosts of other articles attending to the prescience of Lewis’s terrifying novel, and for good reason; That Hideous Strength is a warning against using technology to dehumanize people and ultimately cripple the world into submission. It’s a great book as a novel, but it seems especially appropriate to revisit in lieu of the growing interest in transhumanism and the rapid acceleration of AI development. It feels like much of the talk on AI in recent months involves Read More ›

Futuristic dystopian city with flying cars and dark green atmosphere - digital 3d illustration

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
May 20, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Arts & Culture, Consciousness, Dystopian, Gary Varner, Movies and TV, Robots, Sci-fi, Science fiction}

Ghost in the Shell, Part 3

_{There will always be a ghost in the shell} _{Gary Varner

May 20, 2023

7

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

In the previous review, Major had realized the horrible truth. Ninety-eight people died so she could live in her new body. Horrified by this, she retreats to the ocean just outside the city and floats under the water for some time. When she emerges from the depths, she finds Batou waiting for her on the boat. Major asks if he’s here to kill her, and in his own charming way, Batou says tells her he’s not. After a brief conversation, Major asks Batou to take her back to the city because she needs to know more. Batou agrees and the Major returns to shore only to be arrested by the Hanka cooperation’s men. After this, Hanka’s CEO, Cutter, discuss the Read More ›

Lonely man in red jacket standing by the lake in winter, with transparent woman figure standing next to him

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post

Author
Peter Biles
Date
April 17, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Free will

Tagged
Aldous Huxley, Arts & Culture, Brave New World (book), drug addiction, Dystopian, fiction, free will, Futurism, George Saunders, Literature, Science fiction, social media, The New Yorker}

Escape from Spiderhead and the Question of Love

_{Is love more than a chemical reaction and are humans more than machines made of meat?} _{Peter Biles

April 17, 2023

4

Arts & Culture, Free will}

Brave New World, a speculative work by British writer Aldous Huxley, explores a society where people are conditioned via drugs and genetic engineering to live stable, highly pleasurable, but totally meaningless lives. One pop of a pill, and negative feelings like sadness, anger, or envy vanish. In the brave new world, “everyone belongs to everyone else,” and pleasure supplants purpose. A Story for Our Age That book was written in 1932. Fast forward to the twenty-first century and another fictional work, albeit shorter, goes arguably even deeper than Huxley’s magnum opus. The short story Escape from Spiderhead by George Saunders is about a group of inmates being tested by mood-altering drugs in a facility nicknamed “Spiderhead” for its nebulous layout. Read More ›

Human android cyborg eye futuristic control protection personal internet security access.Concept robot dna system, future scientific technology innovation science. Blue polygonal vector

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post

Author
Peter Biles
Date
February 28, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
AI, Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Consciousness, Dystopian, Engineered Arts (robotics), fiction, Novel, Robert J. Marks}

Klara and the Sun: A Review

_{The sci-fi bestseller asks us: can machines become humans?} _{Peter Biles

February 28, 2023

5

Arts & Culture}

Klara and the Sun is novelist Kazuo Ishiguro’s latest novel, a dystopian story told through the lens of an “artificial friend” (AF) named Klara. Ishiguro is known for his provocative speculative fiction, including the novels Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day. Klara and the Sun similarly alludes to a dark, post-industrial, futuristic world, but it is told through the innocent lens of an artificial mind, highlighting the vestiges of human behavior and brokenness in ways that perhaps an “ordinary” narrator might not be able to manage. The novel starts out with Klara on display in a store waiting to be purchased. Eventually, she’s chosen by a girl named Josie and her mother, and thus begins her Read More ›

modern concept artwork of a person wandering through an abandoned apocalyptic city overgrown by plants

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
February 17, 2023

Categorized
Science Fiction

Tagged
Apocalypticism, Dystopian, Fungus, Gary Varner, Science fiction, The Last of Us, tv, Video Game, Zombie}

The Last of Us Review (Part 1)

_{From a writing standpoint, the story in episode one is about as tight and well-written as one can expect, but will they maintain that standard going forward?} _{Gary Varner

February 17, 2023

7

Science Fiction}

HBO Max has begun airing the series The Last of Us, which is based on one of the most popular video games to come out in recent years. However, if you’ve followed the video game series, then you know there’s a part two, and The Last of Us Part 2 has become known as one of the most infamous bait and switches in video game history. So, needless to say, there was a great amount of suspicion directed at this series before it ever aired. That makes reviewing this first episode rather difficult because the truth of the matter is that the episode is good. From a writing standpoint, it is solid. There are no plot holes or contrivances of Read More ›

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post

Author
News
Date
May 31, 2019

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Technocracy

Tagged
Apocalypticism, Computer-based predictions, Dystopian, Jonathan Bartlett}

1973 Computer Program: The World Will End in 2040

_{Jonathan Bartlett offers some thoughts on a frantic, bizarre - but instructive - computer-driven prediction} _{News

May 31, 2019

4

Arts & Culture, Technocracy}

Viewers may find the attitudes to experts and to computers shown in the video both quaint and disturbing. For that reason, the video is a helpful reminder of the limits of both.

Stephen Hawking and the AI Apocalypse

_{Can doomsday headlines, chasing fame, stand in for deep knowledge of a subject?} _{Mind Matters

December 4, 2018

4

Artificial Intelligence, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind, Technocracy}

One thing a celebrity pundit can usually count on is an audience of media professionals who haven’t considered the problems carefully either and don’t want to. It is much easier and more profitable to market Doomsday than Levin’s Law. As always, the fact that laws governing the universe will eventually triumph is true but not news. Read More ›

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
October 18, 2018

Tagged
Creativity, Dystopian, Future, Game Theory, Prognosticating, Robots, Tyranny}

Forecasting About the Future

_{Deconstructing Yuval Harari’s Silly Forecast of AI’s Future Impact: Part two} _{Robert J. Marks

October 18, 2018

1}

Will A.I. ultimately make free market economics obsolete and destroy democracy in favor of digital dictatorships? Well, forecasting, “especially about the future”, is hard. Jay Richards returns to further discuss Yuval Harari’s prognosticating and along the way gives reason to hope for a far more promising future, grounded in the resilient and reinventing human self. Show Notes References and Resources